Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is caused by inherited or acquired partial deficiency of the uroporphyrinogen-decarboxylase (Uro-D) enzyme activity. It is the most common form of porphyria. The main triggering factors to the development of porphyria cutanea tarda are alcohol, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus. There are several reports of PCT associated with drugs, among them, an...

The provision of antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission has been rising sharply in lowand middle-income countries. Changes to the World Health Organization guidelines support further extension of these programs. The result will be a greatly expanded population of HIV-exposed but uninfected children with substantial exposure to antiretroviral drugs, both in u...

Adults with human immunodeficiency (HIV) infection appear to have a greater prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and of fractures than do adults without HIV infection [1,2]. HIV infection itself may contribute to this greater prevalence. HIV induces inflammation (a known association with accelerated BMD loss), and low BMD has been reported in individuals with untreated HIV infection [1,...

A variety of molecules in human blood have been implicated in the inhibition of HIV-1. However, it remained elusive which circulating natural compounds are most effective in controlling viral replication in vivo. To identify natural HIV-1 inhibitors we screened a comprehensive peptide library generated from human hemofiltrate. The most potent fraction contained a 20-residue peptide, designated ...

Illicit drug use may cause nervous system impairment as a result of direct and indirect effects on the integrity and function of nervous system tissue and, potentially, through immune effects. HIV-1 infection poses an additional risk of impairment, and this risk may be decreased as a result of antiretroviral drug treatment. Obviously, the goal of such therapy is to improve the potential clinica...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Access to first-line antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings has increased rapidly in the last 5 years. Newer medicines with greater potency and better safety profiles open the possibility for improving first-line antiretroviral therapy for developing countries. RECENT FINDINGS Several medicines offer the potential to improve the simplicity, safety and efficacy o...

BACKGROUND It is unknown whether the relationship between the HIV-RNA/CD4 cell count and risk of clinical disease continues to hold true for newer antiretroviral drugs approved without data from clinical endpoint trials. OBJECTIVE : To determine and compare whether rate ratios of AIDS and death at given, latest HIV-RNA and CD4 cell counts levels were similar, regardless of which nucleoside pa...

BACKGROUND Combination antiretroviral (AR) therapy continues to be the mainstay for HIV treatment. However, antiretroviral drug nonadherence can lead to the development of resistance and treatment failure. We have designed nanoparticles (NP) that contain three AR drugs and characterized the size, shape, and surface charge. Additionally, we investigated the in vitro release of the AR drugs from ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the association of reductions in price of antiretroviral drugs and foreign assistance for HIV with coverage of antiretroviral treatment. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Africa. PARTICIPANTS 13 African countries, 2003-8. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A price index of first line antiretroviral therapy with data on foreign assistance for HIV was used to estimate the asso...

Romanelli et al. have reviewed the evolution of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy implemented between January 1998 and December 2001 at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and concluded that triple drug regimens were more effective than dual drug therapy.1 Their conclusion mirrors, in part, US pediatric guidelines for antiretroviral therapy in HIVinfected children. Initially developed in 199...